Tortoise Vivarium - Is This the Best Choice For Your Pet?
Posted: Thursday, September 10, 2009
by Ellie Bear
http://www.tortoisetips.com
Although all glass vivariums (terrariums) can look attractive they are not necessarily the best choice to house a tortoise. Your pet will naturally want to have some places to hide and shade from the heat. If the enclosure is too open it will become stressed and this may cause some physical healthy problems. If they feel too exposed they will not settle and could become restless and ultimately this will also affect their health and well being. Tortoises have been known to beat themselves against the sides of a glass enclosure resulting in injury as are trying to get through the glass to the world beyond!
Tortoises naturally forage around in the wild and in order to provide a suitable enclosure for your pet tortoise you will have to mimic their natural environment. This requires a considerable amount of space and forethought.
A small tortoise of approximately 12 inches will require an enclosure of 3 square yards. This is approximately 9ft by 9ft.
There a different options available to you to build or buy a home for your tortoise. There are glass vivariums or terrariums and commercially designed cages you can buy, or home built wooden enclosures depending on your skill level. There is also the option of buying a plastic swimming pool which can be adapted for your tortoise.
If you do decide however, on a glass tortoise vivarium you should cover three sides of the case with either some cloth on the outside or paper or cardboard. This will provide some privacy for the tortoise and he will be much happier and more content.
You could for the best of both worlds have a tortoise vivarium to showcase your prized pet for a few hours but also have another more practical enclosure where he can spend the majority of his time? This is of course added expense and extra space needed but keeping and caring for your pet is a major undertaking and should be thought through in detail before you decide you wish to purchase one. After all they can out live you and you may have to think of their care for many years!
This Article has been viewed 89 times. (Not updated in real-time.)
No comments yet.We want your comments! If you can read this, you don't have javascript enabled, so you can't use this comment system. Please enable javascript.